It will not be an immediate response to the crisis, but the geothermal research it is indicative of what Italy must do to counter high energy costs. The national energy potential, long neglected, regains momentum in Sicily with explorations off the Aeolian Islands. The news that the INational Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) and the Sicily Region have signed an agreement in this sense and bodes well for the future.
The geothermal sector is the primary source of energy in many provinces of the Tuscany It has been exploited since the beginning of the century and Enel manages several plants. There Sicily Region and INGV in turn, they have been evaluating a collaboration for some time to find out, both from a scientific and technical point of view, what is really under Lipari, Vulcano, Stromboli, Panarea, Salina, Alicudi and Filicudi. The archipelago will be studied so thoroughly that it will eventually lead to the creation of a Inventory of Geothermal Resources of the Aeolian Islandsand (IRGIE). The 36-month agreement has a work plan that aims to investigate the seabed - among the most beautiful in the Mediterranean - without excluding other smaller islands.
The agreement is placed within the hardships of small islands
INGV makes its knowledge available. For the eventual exploitation of geothermal energy, the most modern technologies will be used. The seabed and the ecosystem must be protected and safeguarded. “It is important to make all the scientific knowledge acquired available to the community,” he says Carlo Doglioni, president of INGV. The main fact is that all the inhabitants and administrations of the smaller islands suffer from energy dependence on the continent. They have a piano for renewables from 2019, but it's going slowly. Identifying its own energy resources and offering political decision makers the tools for their safe use is a priority of science.
Next September 25th Sicily goes to the voteoe it will be strategic for the new Council to invest in such an innovative project. Maybe it's about time that small communities no longer suffer from any inconvenience connected to energy dependence. The results of the researches will be able to provide a contribution to the energy-environmental balance of Sicily itself. The signing of the agreement, according to the Region, takes into account everything that happens in the smaller Italian islands in terms of essential services. Which creates worsening social and economic conditions that not only limit development but also have major environmental impacts.
An answer from science to those who said no to everything
The contribution of energy research in the field of geothermal energy in this period is fundamental and neutralizes the statements of those who have blocked exploration, research and new infrastructure for years. We therefore hope for the success of the agreement.
Meanwhile, the Sicilian Department of Energy will provide data on the resident population, electricity and water consumption and a map of the plants powered by renewable sources for each island. INGV will obviously continue to monitor and supervise the Sicilian volcanoes by enlarging the interest of geoscience in a central region in the history of Italian energy: from the gas pipelines that cross it, to the refineries, to the urban methanization of hundreds of Municipalities. Upon expiry of the agreement, all the results of the activities will be available to the community.
